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How to report on transgender people: Public Editor

“If you’re still wondering,‘What do I call a transgender person, it’s so confusing,’ actually it’s pretty simple: call them whatever they want to be called.”

— John Oliver, Last Week Tonight, June 28

Of course, it should not take a comedian to tell us how to talk about transgender people. But, when John Oliver skewered the media for our collective insensitivities in reporting on and representing transgender people, he made valid points about even the best-intentioned journalists, ribbing us with the reality that, “Even when the media is trying to be supportive, they can still make dumb mistakes.”

Indeed, with such high-profile transgender women as Caitlyn Jenner, Chelsea Manning and Laverne Cox all making news in recent months, I expect there have been many interesting discussions in many newsrooms about how we tell the stories of all transgender people, not just these high-profile individuals. Certainly this has been the case at the Star with several writers and editors — and our newsroom style committee — having engaged in discussion and debate in recent weeks about how to report and present such stories.

This really is not rocket science. As Trans Media Watch, a British organization devoted to improving media coverage of transgender people states, this is about “accuracy, dignity and respect.”

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That means the language we use matters. In line with the imperative that transgender people be portrayed as they wish to be portrayed, a transgender person should always be referred to by the gender pronoun and name she or he prefers.

There should be minimal — ideally, no — reference to their birth names. As GLAAD, the U.S.-based lesbian gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media advocacy organization advises in its media guide, “When a transgender person’s birth name is used in a story, the implication is almost always that this is the person’s ‘real name.’

“A transgender person’s chosen name is their real name — whether they are able to obtain a court-ordered name change or not,” the guide tells us, adding, “When writing about a transgender person’s chosen name, do not say ‘she wants to be called,’ ‘she calls herself,’ ‘she goes by Susan,’ or other phrases that cast doubt on the transgender person’s identity.”

GLAAD also provides guidance on how we illustrate stories about transgender people. It suggests that “in almost every instance” there is no need to publish “before” photos of the person in the news. “Often these images are simply included to satisfy the curiosity of readers or viewers, and in most cases they add nothing to the story.”

So how has the Star handled its recent reports on high-profile transgender people? For the most part, I’d say, with the respect and fairness that’s aligned with these best practices. When Caitlyn Jenner made her debut on the cover of Vanity Fair magazine in June, columnist Vinay Menon took great care to write about her “birth” announcement with the sensitivity the sensational story demanded. Having sought out the GLAAD guidelines in advance, Menon referred to her as “she” throughout. He made one early mention that Caitlyn was “formerly known as Bruce” but given the context of this being the first story about Caitlyn that seemed necessary.

As GLAAD then advised, “Since Caitlyn Jenner was known to the public by her prior name, it may be necessary initially to say ‘Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner …’ However, once the public has learned Jenner’s new name, do not continually refer to it in stories.”

This includes reporting on Jenner’s past athletic glories. Says GLAAD: “Do avoid male pronouns and Caitlyn’s prior name, even when referring to events in her past. For example, ‘Prior to her transition, Caitlyn Jenner won the gold medal in the men’s decathlon at the Summer Olympics held in Montreal in 1976.’”

In recent weeks the Star has reported on Chelsea Manning, who is imprisoned in the U.S for national security violations. The wire story we published rightly used “she” consistently and made only brief mention of her former identity to provide context. But, in presenting the story, the Star published side-by-side photos of Chelsea Manning before and after her transition, which seems to me unnecessary and out of line with best practices.

That’s a relatively small misstep but still worth noting and learning from given the reality that most people learn about transgender people through the media.

On this front, I expect we’ve all got much to learn about transgender people and transgender issues. For the media, that means going considerably beyond reporting and commenting on these high profile transgender people in the news recently to find and tell the stories of the transgender people in our community.

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